How did you find your deer/elk after the shot

[Cross]

So i have a question for all of you long distant hunters.
All things being equal (you have the tools and skill to take long distant shots on game). How do you find your game after you made the shot (assuming one and done). I was thinking on this a couple of days ago, I have never taken long shots on game I have enough restraint to know I don't have the tools and skill to be ethical at those ranges. But for the hunters who do, what is the method you employ to find them. I was thinking shots at or greater than 600yds, at that distantance it is a lot of ground for you cover to just to get to the spot where you 1. shot your game 2. estimate that they are in the area if they didn't run too far. This may sound silly but how do you not get lost in the mountains crossing drainages and rough terrain trying to locate your deer/Elk. In my view it is quite easy for you to be in one spot looking for your trophy while your trophy is dead 100yds the oppsite direction. I am not trying to start a discussion on ethics of hunting their is a time and place for that, just trying to learn something new.

Thanks, cross

 

[Broz]

The best way is to have a spotter in the shooting position to walk you in while you go to the animal. When distances get long a spotter is always a great asset for a number of reasons.

If alone you need to take land marks. I once shot a bull elk at 803 yards. The herd left south and he did a 180 and walked about 50 yards north over a small ridge into a timber out of sight. I marked the spot very well before I left the shooting position. Both the bush he was standing by when I shot as well as the two dead trees he walked between the last time I saw him. Once up there I found the blood trail at the bush, followed it right between the two trees and there he was just over the crest dead.

Another valuable piece of info is to take your laser RF along. Mark your shooting position and then range back until you get the same distance as the shot. You can get to the yard and keep you in the right area. This is especially useful in tall sage brush. I have got out there looking for a flattened elk or antelope and this has become very handy.

But for the most part, the animals don't spook like they do when in close. So it is our standard procedure to chamber a follow up and stay on them until we are sure they are done. The majority of the time they are in the open and visible as many long shots are in the open.

We have shot bull elk from one ridge into steep timber on the other side and had them slide in the snow out of sight. If alone you better get a good land mark before leaving so you can cut the slide marks where he fell. If so snow they wont slide as far and land marks are key. I glass up the area well looking for something that sticks out as different before leaving.

Never lost one yet, but have had to do a bit of looking. Everything looks different when you get over there.

Jeff

 

[bowtech3dhunter]

You could probably pick a landmark and then take a compass bearing and then stay on that bearing until you get to your landmark.

 

[Ryan Avery]

You could probably pick a landmark and then take a compass bearing and then stay on that bearing until you get to your landmark.

Where I hunt there are lots of areas where this would be almost impossible, lots of cliffs and rivers. Your best bet is a spotter to walk you in. If you are by yourself you could use a camera to take a picture/video of landmarks. I used my GPS to get me close on a deer I shot at 608, it died in some Christmas trees. I couldn't go straight to it because of a river. I shot an azimuth, then used the GPS off of that azimuth, got me within 25 yards.

 

[Broz]

If you shot them with the Terminator at 600 yards just look for a red hue.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Yeah, I'm learning a 300 grain bullet going really fast is the way to go!

 

[sendero72]

I would think the entire mountain side would be a misty red

 

[colonel00]

I am not a skilled long range shooter by any means but two things that I do can make it easier to find your spot. First, since I usually have a camera, I take pictures of not only my target area but also the shooting position. During that hike to your game, you mind will quickly corrupt any mental picture you tried to keep so photos really help find landmarks and show a true picture. Also, it's kind of old school but nothing wrong with breaking out a topo map and a compass. You know the range so just find the direction and mark it on the map. Same with a GPS as you should be able to use the distance and topo features to mark a location.

 

[Cross]

Thanks for the replies, definitly some good suggestions on keeping track of where you are at.

 

[Sam Millard]

I know there is a way to input distance and azimuth info into a GPS and save it as a waypoint, but I haven't tried it yet...it's on the to do list!

I have used all of the methods already described. The spotter is the surest bet and can be used for a last light shot situation (with light sticks and good headlamp on the searcher, with the spotter staying on the glass walking him into the area with a radio; very important that the scope not be moved!). I usually hunt by myself or my kids are spotting for me, so I've only used a spotter to walk me in a couple of times.

Some of us have the luxury of living where we hunt, so we spend a lot of time walking the areas before the shot is taken. Some of my best long range spots were old "close range" hunting areas or hillsides I shed hunt or pick huckleberries on. I know them well! The key for me is to be very observant of the landscape, paying close attention to things that I could use as a waypoint in a search or to help your spotter/shooter spot an animal for the shot. I have been known to hang a pink ribbon on a strategic tree in the middle of a bunch of huckleberry brush to reference where a bear is in the patch..."he was 200 yards to the left of the ribbon and at the same level when he dropped", etc. Same can be done with burned snags, rocks, dead clumps of trees, etc. Very rarely does everything look the same out here, even in a 200 acre clear cut.

My long range hunting is done more or less ambush style. I like to get set up before light or hours before dark and let them come to me. While I'm waiting, I draw sketches of the target area and come up with ranges to objects. I take lots of pics of the area. I constantly think about how I'm going to recover an animal if I shoot. I have abandoned a few areas because I didn't feel confident in a successful recovery. I haven't lost one yet and don't plan on it! Now that my kids are starting to do the shooting, I'm especially sensitive to lost critters. Nothing seems to gnaw on you like a wounded animal running around in the woods!

In short, long range recovery is really no different than short range recovery. The distance involved is obviously a challenge, but easily overcome by sound navigation skills and careful observation. It's important to keep your cool and focus on the task, because it will take longer to get there. One thing I always do with every kill, long or short, is mark the spot where I shot from...exactly where I shot from. On long distance recoveries, my rangefinder, compass, and gps come along.

Learned the hard way...if you video the shot, zoom back slowly and hold at low magnification for a few seconds before moving the camera or turning it off. I use this method to find sheds I've spotted at distance, it works very well!

 

[idelkslayer]

I leave an extra orange vest at the shooting location and take a compass bearing on the animal location along with memorizing landmarks and sometimes taking a picture from the shooting location. Once you get close you can combine the distance of the shot with the compass bearing and get where you need to be.